1.  Over a fifth of people who leave benefits and enter work return to Jobseeker's Allowance within 13 weeks, and 40% are back on benefits within six months. Despite high employment levels many people cycle between work and benefits. Improving job sustainability and reducing the time that repeat claimants spend on benefit by 50% could save some £520 million a year.

2.  Information is lacking on how long people stay in work and the reasons why they return to benefit. Such information should be used by the relevant departments to design programmes which better reflect the needs of those most at risk of temporary employment and in particular better matching of people to jobs and providing in-work support, such as mentoring and facilitating access to training opportunities.

3.  Thirteen weeks is too short a time for a job to be considered sustainable. The Department for Work and Pensions is now developing indicators to demonstrate its longer term impact on sustainable employment. Success also depends on skills development which is the responsibility of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Both Departments should implement an integrated performance measurement system that tracks the impact of their support over a longer period drawing on good practice internationally.

4.  People with the lowest skills are the least likely to be trained by their employers. Gaining vocational qualifications in the work place can improve the earnings and productivity of low skilled adults but depends on the willingness of employers to support such training. Train to Gain provides fully subsidised training for low-skilled workers up to a first full Level 2 qualification (equivalent to five GCSEs at grades A*-C) and has been successful in engaging hard-to-reach employers. A full evaluation is needed of how this success was achieved so that lessons learned can be applied more widely and to other business sectors particularly where there are skills shortages.

5.  There is a risk of the regulatory burden on employers reducing the time and resources they have to train staff at work. The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills wants to package the in-work training it offers into more coherent programmes that are easier for employers to navigate. It needs to work with employers if it is to achieve a demand-led system that actually provides staff with the training they need.

6.  Disadvantaged workers such as the long-term unemployed, those with poor numeracy or literacy and lone parents still encounter difficulties in accessing sound advice on local learning opportunities and how these will increase their employability. Accessibility has improved through more advice becoming available face-to-face, on the telephone and on-line. But Jobcentre Plus needs to develop outreach networks targeted at helping disadvantaged people who are unlikely to seek advice through traditional routes.

7.  Businesses are unlikely to participate in Local Employment Partnerships if the civil service itself is reluctant to use the partnerships as a source of recruitment. The partnerships, established by Jobcentre Plus, are intended to match up people most disadvantaged in the labour market with local job opportunities. The Department for Work and Pensions should establish a cross-Whitehall protocol on participation supported by practical advice for the wider public sector on the likely benefits.

8.  The new Skills Accounts scheme will allow learners to decide which training to purchase from a range of accredited learning providers, but it has not yet been risk-tested against malpractice. The Individual Learner Accounts programme was terminated in 2001 following evidence of abuse and revelations about the potential scope for fraudulent claims.[2] The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills' new scheme needs to be thoroughly risk-tested before being rolled-out nationally.